Intro to Rio

From a window seal in Rio...

The stars are different in the southern hemisphere. I can't see the Big Dipper, Venus, or Beetlejuice. I haven't studied enough astronomy to know for sure if my location is to blame, if it's the time of night, or if all the lights and tall buildings are hindering my view, but I can smell the beach two blocks away. 

I am staying in a hotel between Copacabana and Ipanema, two of the world's most acclaimed beaches. Growing up as a total lake-rat, the smell of salt water and sand hit me as soon as we got here. There are 10 people in our program including Adriana, a doctorate professor in the Walton College who I believe has become mildly Americanized compared to the traditionally wild Brazilian locals we are getting to know.

My roommate is a girl named Carolina; Salvadorian by decent, she was raised in NWA but speaks Spanish fluently and some Portuguese. We have been conversing in Spanish and English 60%/40%, respectively- which is advisable if you don't want to stand out as Americans abroad. The dark hair is working! (I am a blonde naturally, but died it brownish-red yesterday to alleviate whatever extra attention being the only blonde in Rio would have attracted.) I actually haven't had much contact with the locals thus far, but apparently Carolina and I are American-magnets! We ran into two 3 American students today and a fellow traveler from Boston walking down the road. 

This is extremely out of the ordinary. 

I think it's beginner's luck. 

No one else I've seen/heard speaks English or Spanish.

It feels great (and sandy!) to be in Rio finally, although short lived for now...

Tomorrow morning we are taking a day trip to Sao Paolo to visit the Embraer manufacturing facilities there. The main focus of our program is to visit business facilities around Brazil for exposure to cultural practices and economic development. 

I will check in later this week with better stories about life in Rio. We only just arrived this morning, and aside from a mild medical emergency before take off and one of our program members getting locked in his room for 3 hours, it has been very chill:

Checked in

Exchanged currency

Ate lunch

Visited the beach 

(See Instagram @cjane_smile)

Ate dinner

Although, we are starting to doubt the availability of hot water in this hotel... 

so NOT a #firstworldproblem 

Be back in touch soon. 

(Instagram will be easiest to update, I believe.)

Thank you for visiting! 

Friends and family I love you and miss you! 

WISHING A HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BIG BROTHER JOSHUA ~!~

-CJ

Spain: The Food

I really haven't been doing any of the food justice in this blog so far. 

During the Italy post I was so dissapointed to write "then we ate lunch. Period." 

Luckily in Espana I took more pictures.

But the food was more picture worthy too... 

You'll see what I mean.

I'd like to share what I remember about the

Incredible Mediterranean Cuisine of Spain

BIG THANKS to Salva for helping me label things I could not recall the names of (mostly seafood)...

MEAT

I was a pescatarian for two years before I went to Spain.

I ate fish, seafood and dairy but no red meat.
My boyfriend at the time hated it and helped ween me back on before I left. 
Thank GOD he did because I know I would have been able to put down things like this: 

Hanging thighs of dry meat (jamon iberico) found in every grocery store

Jamon Iberico displayed in the home for a snack. 

[They keep a towel over it to either protect it or hide it...maybe both.]

Una bocadilla - sandwich my 'mom' would make me for school. 

Actually very YUM! :)

Homemade Paella
The most traditional Valencian dish

made with any combination of rice, veggies, seafood and meat

(First time I ate rabbit)

More paella

(Images from Google)

Chorizo, Sobresada, Jamon Iberico and other typical Spanish style cured meats

Blood Sausage

(I'll try anything once, but this was gross to think about AND gross to taste. I don't recommend it.)

TAPAS

A tapa is basically the Spanish way of saying baby-appetizer. No two places have the exact same selection of tapas but there are common ones that can be found everywhere:

I also tried some not-so-common tapas (mostly listed under Seafood) 

The Spanish palate has a creative inclination to combine rich flavors and textures.

A tapa can be anything:

Different variations of meats and seasonings

Mushrooms or breads

Olives and cheeses

Stuffed peppers, wrapped vegetables

Pork, squid, tuna, veal, rabbit, shrimp, sausage..

They aren't afraid to get a little freaky with their food, and I like that.

Chorizo and olives on bread.

Simple.

Patatas bravas

Could and would eat every day of my life.

Tortilla Espanola 

A traditional dish that I wasn't fond of

Selection of olives at a fair we went to in Valencia

Tapas Bar in Barcelona

Pincho de gambas

Croquetas de jamon

(Little fried things filled with ham)

                         Various Tapas in Barcelona                                                         Salmon Tapa

    

Calamares, mushrooms, eggs, fruits, beans. 

A tapa can be anything... but it is always delicious.

SOUPS

Gazpacho

Easy to make a very yummy summer dish

One of my favorite things my house mom would make for lunch

White rice with tomato paste and a fried egg

I don't know why it stands out among all of these crazy dishes but it was delicious. 

Try it :)

Rice pudding

Sopa de Mariscos

Yum-tastic

DRINKS

 

Sangria

So delicious and nutritious - Sangria flavors depend on which fruit and which wine you prefer. 

They can be infused with very exotic or festive flavors

Try one of these recipes for yourself this summer.

Remember: don't be afraid to eat the fruit it's the best part!

Horchata

A sweet tasting traditional treat of Spain, made from almonds, rice and a few other things.

Wine

Spain is the 3rd largest producer of wine in the world behind France and Italy

-naturally, I adopted the wine culture with ease-

Cava

Spanish version of Champagne from the region of Catalonia 

Although we spent much of our drinking time with the amazing Spanish wine,
this was Valentine's day and the Bloody Mary's are the same in Spain as they are in the US

... heavenly

 SEAFOOD

Living in Valencia, which is situated on the Mediterranean Coast, the availability of seafood and fresh ingredients strongly influences the selection of favorite tapas and treats.

Many of these are from the good-bye meal we had at Salva's flat before returning to the US. He helped me label each of these because -lets be honest- I didn't know what I was eating 40% of the time...

Gambas and navajas

Clochinas / mejillones

Gambas plancha

Tellinas

Canaillas

Sepia

Calamares rellenos de sobrasada

So delicious !!

Olives wrapped in some kind of fish

Monk fish

Ahh!

Pescadilla

Yes, we ate that too.

Boquerones

Little squids

Gambitas

Gambitas fritas

Yum!

Pulpo

Last (and most definitely) least:

Burger King menu. 

Haha had to get a pic.

Leche

Milk kept outside the refrigerator. 

ABSOLUTE MADNESS

If you can't make it out to Spain, I suggest going to a tapas restaurant and just try everything.

There's a great one in Kansas City called La Bodega that has pretty good paella and very yummy sangria.

The tapas bar in Fayetteville shut down a few years ago.
Someone needs to open a new one :)

____________________________________________________________________________

The new excursion is starting very soon!
My next post will be outlining what we know so far about the upcoming trip. Hopefully will be able to answer any curiosities about what in the world I'm about to get my self into this summer.

Thank you for visiting!

Italy

Now presenting: a 5 day, 3 city tour of Italy

Who: My father [Wayne] and myself

Where: Rome, Florence, and Venice

When: April 13-18, 2009

Main activities: Vatican City, Trevi Fountain, The Pantheon, The Roman Forum, Spanish Steps, shopping, Piazza Navona, Florence and Venice.

Deanna and I split up after Amsterdam. She flew to Germany to see her sister and her nieces, I flew to Rome to meet my dad for a 5 day sabbatical. It was a great trip with awesome food and even better company :) As it says at the top of the page, we saw all the great historical landmarks that are recommended by every blog, list, and book written about the city. 

Wayne and I in St. Peter's Square, Vatican City

Days 1 & 2

Rome

We toured around Rome and visited all of these famous places for the first two days. I feel like most people will be familiar with these attractions so I will just post lots of pictures instead of explaining each place in detail.

We tossed coins in the Trevi Fountain...

climbed the Spanish Steps...

ate some authentic [and yummy] gelato...

 listened to the street musicians and had lunch in the Piazza Navona...

visited the Partheon...

toured the Roman Forum...

watched the sunset on Vatican City over the river...

and consumed all sorts of delicious food and wine.

We really enjoyed our selves during our time in Rome. We had a fantastic shopping trip somewhere in there too :) 

I can't remember where we stayed

but knowing my dad it was probably at the Mariott lol 

Day 3

Vatican City

Easter Sunday we went to Vatican City and took a great tour of the areas open to the public for viewing. I'm not Catholic, but I did buy a beautiful blue beaded Rosary from one of the vendors outside the square and keep it in my car.

[With my eyes closed] in St. Peter's Square

Sculptures on the Vatican Art Walk in the gardens

A portion of Raphael's The School of Athens

Leonardo Da Vinci's Sistine Chapel

The Vatican Guards

I read the Da Vinci Code but not Angels and Demons which takes place in Vatican City -I did see the movie though- but I wasn't familiar enough with the details to apply all of the symbolism from the movie to real life. Our tour guide did a great job explaining the significance of each structure and symbol in the city. If you ever go, I would recommend hiring a professional to walk you through the history for a better understanding of how the Pope's headquarters operates. 

It's worth it!

Day 4

On the fourth day we hit the road! (actually, we hopped the train)...

We ate breakfast in Rome,

lunch in Florence

and had dinner in Venice.

Florence 

From the train, the archway into the Mercato Nuovo where we did much shopping

Thanks dad :)

Il Porcellino in the Mercato Nuovo, who's nose is rubbed by visitors for luck.

There are about 20 copies of this statue around the world, including one on campus here in Fayetteville!

[It's in front of the yellow house that used to be Tri Sigma on Maple]

Dad and I in Florence

Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore

We didn't spend much time in Florence but we did get to shop in the market place, eat a hearty lunch, and do some light exploring before catching the late train to Venice. 

Just popped in for the day to see what it was like.

It was very clean and the people were friendly, 

I would definitely go back some day.

Venice 

Venice is made up of 117 small islands and connected by over 400 bridges. I heard one time that it was sinking so I had better go see it before there was nothing to see. It has been described as the most beautiful city ever built by man and the most romantic location in Europe. We stayed here for one day, two nights then headed back to Rome to fly 'home'. 

I returned to Valencia and my dad went home to KC

Example of the canal

Logistic operations here all work off of these small boats

The gondola man

Dad and I in Venice

Having lunch outside St. Mark's Cathedral in San Marcos Square

In the square. 

Venice also had a neat market to shop for keepsakes. I bought a beautiful Carnival mask that I'm actually afraid to bring to Arkansas because I don't want to have it broken on accident. I don't have a picture of my exact mask but the photo below shows how many options there were in this market area.

Carnival Masks

I went back to Valencia after this. It was the best spring break ever!! 

About 3 weeks around from 

Valencia, Spain > Switzerland > Prague > Amsterdam > Italy > Spain

There are still a million places I want to go in Europe, but I was very happy to share my stories for where I have visited so far. 

I'm going to keep the next few posts a little shorter since these were all so long. 

[but they are the most interesting ones until this summer !!!!!!!]

Thanks for reading :)